Book Club Thread 1: Jake's Magical Market, Spoilers Open

Which Book Shall We Read This Month?

  • Jake's Magical Market

    Votes: 4 57.1%
  • Armor

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Last Wish, Introducing the Witcher

    Votes: 2 28.6%
  • Pandora's Star

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Illusion

    Votes: 3 42.9%
  • Her Majesty's Wizard

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    7
  • Poll closed .

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
Yeah, the book definitely jumped the shark, I feel like the author really lost the plot thread towards the middle of the book and wasn't able to save it in the end.

Strong start, weak finish.
I'd say above average, but not exactly strong, start.
In any case the blah-blah, fuck that, type of whiny modern speak sort of worked as a fly in the ointment for me.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Almost through it now at part 2 Chapter 18. So apparently in an interview the author admitted these were two different stories he crammed together to get his pagecount higher which explains a lot.

And we've changed genres again entering into cosmic horror territory. Jake's stuck in a previous version of Earth that failed looking at his own corpse, with no physical combat cards and unable to use his energy due to it being polluted. Meanwhile, a god who's pissed at Jake's Shenanigans has locked down the world so that he'll be unable to leave and left him trapped for all eternity as the only human left with only his own corpse (and stolen griffon) to keep him company.

I'm starting to like these gods. Honestly, it's a real struggle to continue at this point and I'm pretty much entirely pushing to the end because I'm a completist.
 

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
Almost through it now at part 2 Chapter 18. So apparently in an interview the author admitted these were two different stories he crammed together to get his pagecount higher which explains a lot.

And we've changed genres again entering into cosmic horror territory. Jake's stuck in a previous version of Earth that failed looking at his own corpse, with no physical combat cards and unable to use his energy due to it being polluted. Meanwhile, a god who's pissed at Jake's Shenanigans has locked down the world so that he'll be unable to leave and left him trapped for all eternity as the only human left with only his own corpse (and stolen griffon) to keep him company.

I'm starting to like these gods. Honestly, it's a real struggle to continue at this point and I'm pretty much entirely pushing to the end because I'm a completist.
He was probably lying, since we have at least 3 stories and the start of a forth, IMHO.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
He was probably lying, since we have at least 3 stories and the start of a forth, IMHO.
I didn't have his exact words so it may be that something was lost in the translation instead but it does confirm why the story has such a split personality.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Alright, finally made it to the end today.

I have the distinct feeling the author was basically at war with the commentators at this point. Jake keeps performing actions that are brutal, gross, and edgelord material as the typical poster would do while narrating how awful he feels and how terrible all the things he's doing are. It's distinctly bipolar and, I suspect, a result of the author wanting to go one way but being persuaded to write another by patrons.

Good grief, an entirely new system at the very end? The god trapped Jake, whose whole shtick was time magic at least for the first half of the book and never gave up his time cards, in a dead world and blocked travel except for time travel? This god deserved to get eaten.

Jake's a god now, in the last five pages, and he's gonna end things on a cliffhanger?

Bleh.
 

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
Alright, finally made it to the end today.

I have the distinct feeling the author was basically at war with the commentators at this point. Jake keeps performing actions that are brutal, gross, and edgelord material as the typical poster would do while narrating how awful he feels and how terrible all the things he's doing are. It's distinctly bipolar and, I suspect, a result of the author wanting to go one way but being persuaded to write another by patrons.

Good grief, an entirely new system at the very end? The god trapped Jake, whose whole shtick was time magic at least for the first half of the book and never gave up his time cards, in a dead world and blocked travel except for time travel? This god deserved to get eaten.

Jake's a god now, in the last five pages, and he's gonna end things on a cliffhanger?

Bleh.
Yup.
This.

Anyways, when do we vote on next month's book(s)?
 

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
You know, we can always open a second suggestions thread even before all of us finish this poll.
I have a few books I'd like to throw into the pot.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Hmm, and @nemo1986 already posted he finished so there's just a couple more. I'll leave the question up 'til tomorrow and if Nobody objects, open it up to voting if we want to start choosing our next book on October 1st, and if we're ready to start posting without spoilers to discuss whatever thoughts we have left.
 

Agent23

Ни шагу назад!
So, do we propose books on here or do a separate thread btw?

I would like to propose two:

1. Sword Diplomacy by Michael Anderle. I still have the urge to read something somewhat similar to last month's pick but is non the less better, and this, an urban fantasy about a clueless and powerful hot elf from a hidden, elf village country sent to infiltrate the human world, sounds decent.
Also, um, yeah, hot elf in red skintight leather/latex vs. rando with an AK and all, and no it is not that kind of book, as far as I see there are no tentacles involved:

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2. Gather Darkness by Fritz Leiber. This one would actually be a reread for me, but I have wanted to do so for a while now, given the planet's current obsession with scientism.
The basic plot is of a world that has gone through some unnamed calamity, and at some point a bunch of scientists took over, ones that turned science into a new religion and themselves, into its priests.
It is an oldie but goldie, written by one of the great masters of golden age SF&F.

Honorable mentions: We Are Legion (We Are Bob) because that was an ascended everyman character done right and because it would get the taste of that last book out of my mouth.

Since I am trying to leavily push for multiple books to be read I want to recommend two short stories, too.
1. Logic of Empire by Heinlein more of a novella, really, but with more sympathetic characters and worldbuilding than most of the new stuff out there.
2. Jeffty Is Five by Ellison.
 

Lord Sovereign

Well-known member
I...uh...started to get a bit tired of it at about the 25% mark and what I'm seeing here is not very encouraging. That aside, the page count was daunting from the very start. The sodding thing is about the same length as the first Wheel of Time book!

So, for the purposes of the thread, I'm done with it. I might finish reading it later at my own discretion.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Okay, that's every person who's participated so I think we're done. I'm opening up the thread for anybody who wishes to post, no more spoilers needed.

So one note I'll make is that the fight with the angel was really stupidly overlong. One the one hand that can be taken as kinda game-appropriate since it was a boss fight against a boss that heals himself. But reading it was an incredible slog, not the least because of Jake's incessant whining about how evil he was for doing each and every action along the way.

I was also pretty disappointed at Jake winning in the first place. He really should not have been able to take on a massively-high-leveled son of the gods with all the best gear and an innate mastery of runecraft and expected to win. A narrow escape would have been thematically appropriate, Jake managing to kill the angel just felt like wank.

@Agent23, please cut your recs down to one, we can only put so many in the poll and everybody else deserves a chance to nominate a book too. But we'll go ahead and take nominations in this thread, then I'll start a new one with a poll once we have the nominations just as we did last month.

Also at this point I'll ask if anybody objects to opening up our next choice early, in addition @Agent23 has asked if people wish to consider a bonus short story along with a novel each month.
 

The Whispering Monk

Well-known member
Osaul
My nomination is one I haven't read, and I'm nominating it because it sounds like it could be fun:

Fred, the Vampire Accountant #1
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant
Drew Hayes

Some people are born boring. Some live boring. Some even die boring. Fred managed to do all three, and when he woke up as a vampire, he did so as a boring one. Timid, socially awkward, and plagued by self-esteem issues, Fred has never been the adventurous sort.

One fateful night – different from the night he died, which was more inconvenient than fateful – Fred reconnects with an old friend at his high school reunion. This rekindled relationship sets off a chain of events thrusting him right into the chaos that is the parahuman world, a world with chipper zombies, truck driver wereponies, maniacal necromancers, ancient dragons, and now one undead accountant trying his best to “survive.” Because even after it’s over, life can still be a downright bloody mess.
 

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